Tuesday, June 16, 2009

If Not Now, Then When?

The liberal media is in a foul mood. The folks at Macleans Blog are engaging is excessive apathy - trying too hard to show they're dismissive and disinterested and thus evidencing the precise opposite.

The Libloggers aren't happy campers either. They all have good reason to be disappointed. It appears the brilliant anointed one won't take down a conservative government supposedly unfit to govern, in the midst of the worst economic downturn in a generation.

Perhaps aligning with their friends in the media in a desperate and continual search for the scandal du jour to provide an instant road to power, instead of figuring out where they stand from an ideological and policy standpoint, isn't the way to go after all.

Then again, perhaps they've figured out that there's no where to go ideologically, and have decided that daily attempts to manufacture a scandal are their only chance at power.

Putting aside the long term prospects of the Liberal brand, the most pressing question Liberals everywhere must be asking themselves is: if not now, then when?
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9 comments:

  1. Now they're all tryin to paint Ignegatiff as the voice of reason . I think his voice is too nasal to be reasonable . A bit too much whine .

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  2. Succinct summary. The lib ennui is becoming palpable. It's how it is when you have no meaning, reason or clue. It's enough to bring a tear to a glass eye.

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  3. Iggy just cannot play the political game anywhere near Harper's level. Deborah Gray had Harper working as her assistant when she was first elected in a by-election.

    On a CPAC documentary on Harper, she told the story of the time they were working hard for a long time, and she suggested to Stephen that they take in a hockey game. Harper refused. "He wanted to go home and think strategy. That's all he does all the time, is strategize" she said.

    Harper obviously has to spend lots of time governing now, but that little story tells you a lot about Harper.

    Calgary Junkie

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  4. Captured for the future - MacCullum said on Power Play that "the Liberals have NO PLAN"....

    Great. The government in waiting threatening an election and NO Plan for Canadians!!! How arrogant.

    What was their campaign going to be offering - just "We're not the other guys. We have an entitlement to govern and Ignatieff got his degree in Penal Systems of 18th century Britain so he's smart?"

    I thought Ignatieff said he has asked "his people" to have a platform by June. That means on every single ministry of the government - not just a few sexy topics like EI and missing binders.

    It is June. We are waiting.

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  5. I really thought he would pull the pin (and he still might).

    Perhaps its not so remarkable that he's now appearing weaker than Dion. After all, the only time he faced the scrutiny of his party, he lost...to Dion.

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  6. Having no plan of your own and insisting the other change his is like a pointing a gun without bullets. What did Ignatieff think was going to happen? I used to think Ignatieff would prove a more worthy opponent for Harper, but I don't anymore.

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  7. Iggy had his script in place when he supported the Jan budget--Harper, you're on probabtion. Bring out three reports in Mar, June and Dec, and I will grade you pass or fail.

    All he had to do was stick to that process, he could do his grading, scold away, and save face no matter what he decided. But noooooooo, he introduces the Dippers EI-360 policy, torques up the rhetoric, thinking Harper will back down. But Harper plays hardball right back, calling EI-360 "irresponsible".

    Now, if the Lib caucus rejects this blue-ribbon panel "bone" from Harper, and insists on an election, they will have been wrong-footed from the start. Harper wins the spin war that it was the LIBS, not him, who caused this summer election. Plus, Harper is going to play on two strong emotions from voters--anger at the Libs, over the unwanted election; and fear of a coalition destabilizing the country.

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  8. Paul Wells has an interesting post up at inkless wells.

    Perhaps Harper is exploiting Iggy's weak hand to wrangle concessions to ensure we don't go through this crisis every three months.

    Perhaps, the new CPC-Liberal Coalition....

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  9. Layton/Duceppe are using the phrase, new cpc/liberal coalition a lot. Perhaps they think cdns will be as outraged over this as they were when they tried it. Wrong, this one we support for a while.
    And Duceppe is calling iggy the new deputy PM.
    I think the ndp/bloc are really really mad. They have all summer to diss him in Quebec, while iggy is in Europe. Who will defend him here, Newman is done today.

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